ZZR1400 Racetrack Review

After a long biking hiatus due to a slip disc condition at the neck area, I finally got a chance to enter a trackday session again. Well, the last one wasn't really that good as there were too many red flag incidents and too many bikes going around at the same time
http://speetdemon.blogspot.com/2011/07/track-day-on-hayabusa.html?m=
This time there were 3 of us who didn't have any last minute cancellation. Besides me on the ZZR1400, the other two fellas rode the R6 and ZX6R.

We got our hope trashed early that day as the rain poured right from the morning. Finally, 2 hours before flag off, the rained stopped. Amazingly, on normal public trackdays, only 5 people turned up at the circuit. The rain must have had so many others cancelled their plan to come. After sticking the bike cams and done with the circuit paperwork, we were all set go.

Sepang Track layout

Sepang wide circuit can make choosing a line quite tricky for novice. Even for those who has been there but rarely, it will take few laps to to get reacquainted. At that point, I can offer no help to those first timer couple of friends I was with. As I merged and entered the front straight going into the first corner, I was thinking if this bike can make me enjoy this circuit like 5 others before this. I was also imagining scraping the goliath exhaust pair bellies and the foot peg feelers. Here are my take when hitting the pit after the 3 sighting laps.
- body parts didn't touch the floor. Feelers are waaayyy shorter than the Hayabusa (touchdown in turn2)
- the exhaust can anchor the bike like a pendulum. They were ditched 10 days after.
- even after 3 laps the tire edge looks like that from a gsxr1000 k5 at the end of a trackday.
I reluctantly agreed to pit after 3 laps, eventhough 5, was what I had in mind. This is because riding the big ZZR actually requires stamina. At the end of straights, the bike carries more momentum due to its weight. Under heavy braking with the more upright seating position, trying to counter the momentum makes it feel like doing one push up in each corner.

As familiarization improved with more laps, I started to get into a more consistent gear shifts and braking distance. One thing the bike does really well is the smooth, downshift shift when approaching a corner. The gearing feels so right at each corner as I found a consistent gear pattern which provided a coherent engine braking entering each corner at each lap.

The big Kawasaki is built for dragracing besides sports touring. It is not meant to be raced on closed circuit. Despite this stereotype, I would say that it is still capable on big lean angle as the cornering clearance is great in Sepang turns 2&9, even with the peg feeler intact. Its upright seating is not an issue at the cornering as I will lean forward and shift my upper body. Leaning forward helps a lot to put more weight to the front tire and tilt the bike a little, resulting in sharper cornering especially in turn 5 but for the big ZZR, the weight helps stabilize the turn. However, the weight disadvantage of the standard exhaust is obvious when it slows down flipping the bike from left to right at the Sepang turn 5-6 chicane. Additionally, as this is a sport tourer, one tend to have a psychological barrier about leaning too much on this bike. Only by attending more trackdays, this barrier will slowly be removed as one will learn that body shifting is required more so on this bike compares to other lighter bikes.

This review will not be complete if it doesn't mention about the bike acceleration and top speed at the straights. Afterall, the ZZR is designed for dragracing more than anything. So, let me begin with acceleration. Just like the saying goes, there is no replacement for displacement. On the track it does not require too many downshifts to be in the powerband at corner exits. For example, the bike feels strong coming out of Sepang corner 14 on 3rd at only 60km/h and managed to propel itself to 220km/h at the back straight. In other words, whatever ground it lose during the turns, will be recovered during the straights (as shown in the initial part of the video http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQV2b9S3g3w ) The bike sheer power really outshines its cornering ability. Its the fastest bike I rode on the front straight, clocking 245km/h on the GPS, limited only by my own fear as there is another 250m to go.

At this point the brakes did a superb job in being consistent and not mushy after exceeding the normal operating temperature. I did not notice the common fading issue. The brakes coupled with the flawless slipper clutch, play effective role in the wrestling down the bike at corner entry speed. In fact, there was only one time the rear skidded in turn 9 out of the 20+ laps. I remembered contemplating hard when the old Hayabusa skidded in turn 4 and 9 in more than a few laps despite having a slipper clutch.

To sum it all, ZZR1400 makes a decent trackday tool in its standard form. With a lighter exhaust system and more tracktime it can be on par if not competitive with other lighter machines out there. One just have to know how to ride it in the track. Isn't that the same as everything else in life?

Right before entering the track

The rear after only 3 laps

ZX6r is trying to recover the lost grounds after the backstraight

Deep in downhill turn 5 - my favourite turn

Right hander

One very very satisfied owner

We raced till the sun sets in

Trackday memorabilia

In hyper tourer mode, covered 420km to reach home after 3 1/2 hrs

New R77 replacing the standard "booster rocket" exhaust

ZZR1400 at the twisties

I had another canyon ride last weekend on the ZZR. Its after the first oil change at 1020km. And that was another blast. Hope the You Tube video can tell better what I try to conclude.

The bike feels planted and smooth at cornering speed of about 120-130kmh. Minimal pitching felt at corner entry and exit without upsetting the chassis and the turn. No wiggle upon corner exit as felt on Hayabusa at standard suspension setting. Will try at higher entry speed once the forks and shock are adjusted. No brake fade throughout the ride (not much braking anyway).

(updated 9th April) It appears that the ride last week was not aggressive enough to induce other characteristics, especially the unfavorable ones. This week, while trying to maintain cornering speed of 140kmh, the front suspension squatted a little and might have caused an understeer sensation. Consequently, tighter turns will require more focus and leaves less margin for error. The unsettling feeling in the previous review might have caused by the soft suspension setting. Both the front and rear preload settings should be tweaked harderr to remedy this issue.(end update)

Body posture is more upright and promotes better cornering view and allow better mid corner adjustments. Neutral steering on the ZZR vs oversteering on the Hayabusa (individual subjectivity).

On board bike cam does not show half the actual fun

Chunked out rubber at the tire shoulder side.
(Updated 15th April) For the benefits of those inclined to use the ZZR mostly for touring, I like to share the fuel consumption numbers and operating range. This is something I gathered after 500km two up riding with my kid and wife each day this weekend. In short at 130-150km/h the consumption is 17.3km/l and 160-190km/h it is about 16km/l. I covered 359km during the 150km/h trip with at least 30more km to go before empty.

The exciting point during this weekend tour mode was the 3-4kRPM in queue up situation before overtaking in the B roads. The ZZR on 4th especially, was tame and easy to throttle up, without the big jolts characterizing big bore bikes. On the otherhand, power did build up so fast that at times I skipped 5th gear and straight to the 6th where the bike still pulls like it is on 5th. In top (6th) gear, the bike will flow surely and smoothly if the rev hovers around 3.5kRPM.

On the highway, 140km/h cruising speed is done at 5kRPM with very little vibration felt at the handle or the foot pegs. In a blink of the eye, you will be at 160km/h. This is a very comfortable pace as the air flow will balance your torso weight and relief it away from the wrist. A more aggresive 200+km/h run will mimic excellent feel of acceleration. At this speed however, one have to battle with the air turbulance generated by the pillion exactly behind your helmet. This will be remedied easily with an aftermarket windshield.

The suspension feels solid (good rebound and compression on bumps and dips) and unwavering throughout the ride.

All in all - the ZZR is excellent on the highway where the touring traits outshines the corner carving ability in the canyons last week.(end of 15th April update)

ZZR1400 Review

(To write and share this experience requires some efforts on my side. My only hope is to get some feedback of what you think especially those with biking experience. Appreciate if u leave some comments before leaving)

After 240km town riding in the last 1 week, I finally get a chance to take the ZZR out to the canyons. I just have to know more about the bike right away although I certainly aware that under run in conditions, true performance will not be seen just yet. This is something I learnt with the new GSXR1000 K5 during its run in stage - before the unique air induction growling revealed itself :-). Thus, this test is all about bottom to midrange power and handling.

The Kulim/Grik/Banding route consists of 3 phases. (Although the last phase was not planned at all -Grik/Banding) 1st phase, a 2 carriage way traffic filled straight route of 60km, followed by 40km of large twisties and finally the short and winding road of about 35km. The return trip will follow the same route.


Tasik(Lake) Temenggor. Located within hilly terrain, accessible through mountainous twisty roads. Pulau Banding (Banding Island) is linked by 2 bridges within the lake. Paradise for nature lovers. Playground for bikers.

Once on the saddle I felt a slight short of leg reach to the ground eventhough it actually is 5mm lower in seat height compared to Hayabusa. Strangely, Kawasaki claimed to have a narrower seat too. Perhaps the foot peg is in the way of the shortest leg distance to the ground that you have to move the foot few inches back/front.

Once on the road and trying to get to the front of the traffic, the throttle response feels mushy but 'sorted' below 3.5k RPM in 6th gear. This is more so when I gave a handsful of throttle at 3k RPM. At that instant, the bike is analogous to Starship Enterprise trying to channel all power before jumping to lightspeed right at 3500 RPM. This might be undetectable at lower gears. As such it needs a downshift or better still, half clutch solution, when overtaking at crawl speed in 6th. The only bike which excels in this is the Gen1 Hayabusa which I had literally rode in 6th gear around town. Perhaps the ZZR drive by wire throttle control regulates low end power in such a way to tame urban cruising.

As the traffic cleared, the bottom end test began. I started off by scanning for flat spots (my favorite test back in the 600-750cc & carburator days) Instead of finding one, I couldnt stop smiling when accelerating beyond 3800rpm. Its something the Hayabusa and the K5 can't match. It didnt even have to reach 5000rpm to impress me... Can't wait till its fully broken in. Its also worth mentioning that the engine feels as smooth as a scooter even during hard acceleration.

(updated 9th April '12) The recently published dyno curve (April www.sportrider.com) comparing the Gen2 Busa to the ZX14R, truly supports my seat of the pants dyno :-) assesment in the last paragraph. Based on the curves, ZX14R really shines after 5000 RPM.(end update)

To scrub off the speed, there's hardly any engine braking, a trait that is shared with the Gen2 Hayabusa. Downshifting is actualy needed and applied more frequently in the tight corners in the 3rd leg of the test. here, the slipper clutch worked really well with a very solid feel and no delay in enggagement for now (at speed ~ 140km/h only downshift to 3rd). For drag racers there is a blinker (similar to shift light) for clutch release at a preset RPM. The binders are superb with radial masterpump and calipers, offering grip and feel unsurpassed by the Gen2 Busa with Brembo RCS19 mastercylinder using EBC sintered pads. It still offers 6 grip settings. The best part of it all is the ABS (only for ZZR and non standard on ZX14R).

Standard suspension setting is on the softer side as factory default is set on the softer half. Even so, in no codition did the bike wiggled its rear during hard corner exits or the front end dived excessively under hardbraking at corner entry. However, the front end feel is vague although not totally unusable. The bike feels heavy when flipping side to side. This is especially so during pre twisty zig zagging to warm up the tires, which should be easily remedied when the 40lb rocket booster exhaust cannisters are jettisoned. Cornering feels solidly planted but needed more time to settle in due to the pendulum effect of the heavy cannisters (similar to the Gen2 Busa). A plus point, the shorter reach to the handle will make it easier for midcorner adjustment as well as body shifting. This posture also offers good traffic and trajectory visibilty compared to its GT competitor. As for those reasons, cornering on this bike will be easier with enough acclimatization. This is later proven when 'hard' corners on board Hayabusa turned into a fiesta on board the big Ninja. In the straight line or touring mode, the soft suspension offers muted road bumps sensation. The badly laden tarmac surface between Grik to Banding have been hazardous at times when riding the Hayabusa and even the 954 (overshot after landed into a pothole back in 2002). However, it turned up to be a smooth ride on the ZZR.

I stepped into a hotel coffee house overlooking the man made lake at the destination contemplating the different kind of ride the bike has offered. Its smooth engine and supple ride offers great touring capability while power delivery and solid cornering feeling welcome aggressive riding. Perhaps with a minor suspension tweaking, it may become a worthy track circuit contender. With this impression, the ride back became more exciting as if the bike rewarded me for giving my trust.

A relationship built on trust (or is it thrust ?)


500km .. to soon for a top speed run

I passed the first 500km mark at the end of the trip. It means that the engine rev limit can now go up from 4000(120kmh) to 6000rpm or 170kmh. (now I learned that it is 500miles in the manual not 500km)The road in front of me finally opened right at the red light. With a short weaving to be at the front, I whacked the throttle wide open and like a kid watching porn for the first time, I listened and watch for what's going to happened next. The tachometer jump and the shift light lighted up for the first time (set at 7.5kRPM = lowest setting). The soft exhaust note got ripped apart into a kind of hypersonic roar. I remembered I was clasping fist to hold tight to dear bike as it was jolting my arms while I am pulling my torso on the tank. I was shifting gears real fast to avoid hitting the redline and in no time I reached 9kRPM in the top gear and moving about 250km.h.....easily, no drama. I was all smiles and that wrapped up my day.

The new hope....!

ZZR1400/ZX14R - new weapon of choice

(To write and share this experience requires some efforts on my side. My only hope is to get some feedback of what you think especially those with biking experience. Appreciate if u leave some comments before leaving)

Skipping various riding episodes, this is my entry about the new wheeler I just bought less than a week ago. To be exact, it was on last Thursday 8th March 2012.

This happens to be my first new bike of a latest model, ever. Its the one which cost exceeding 100 grand. Its unthinkable at first but circumstances facilitated the purchase and the selling off for the Hayabusa. It was so easy that from the conception to actual delivery took me about 10 days. However, this was the easy part.

The difficult part was to decide, without actually ridden the ZZR1400, if I should buy it and let the Hayabusa go. Hayabusa on the otherhand has been a very reliable horse and among the best looking bike I have owned. It was difficult until I test rode the ZZR1400 the ....hardest pulling bike.


the king slayer dressed in green....
And why do I make that choice? The 14 has been in close race but always a runner up to the Hayabusa for the last 6 years. Kawasaki fierce approach in new models of various reputation hinted the best in class flagship was on itsway. This follows by the 10-10-11 hype.

When finally launched the new ZZR shocked everyone with unprecedented 20hp stronger over the next closest thing. It has the power and electronics evolution which came from proven models like ZX14 2011 (power) and ZX10R 2011(electronics). While realizing the 2 aspects will not make the ZZR the greatest bike if the handling sucks, they actually boosted up with more rigid suspension and chassis for better cornering performance.

Although theoretical, 2 out of 3 proven areas are pretty reasonable odds to bank in. Its easy ergonomics (showroom sit test) is another deal clencher. Finally, the things that really steal the deal should be trade in price of the outgoing bike and final test ride I took. I actually told the salesman to tie up a ribbon on the bike and proceed with the purchase.


Finally, its in my garage
All this is not without hefty price I paid when I lost the Hayabusa group comraderie. A natural consequence for brand/model based motor groups.

Bike review will begin in the next blog entry....yawn...

Hayabusa Canyon Ride

It was a bright morning and as we're filling up gas in our tanks, I realized that its windy too. This should be a perfect day for riding. It was an ordinary ride to Grik for our weekly roti canai breakfast and the clock was showing 10:45am. We're about to end breakfast, suddenly, I got an idea. I thought we should extend our ride to the Banding Lake (Tasik Banding). It's only about 30miles further to the east...where the windy road meets the sky....and its the last day before Ramadhan. The last day before we bag our bikes into a loooong hibernation.

As it turned out, I had a hell of time. The truns were shorter, as if asking you to come and shred the tires...before the season ends.....I leave it to you to enjoy the ride with me :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R45iHpRi838&feature=youtube_gdata

Hangtime

Routine roti canai breakfast for the thousandth time :-)
The Banding Lake. Connecting bridge to the Banding Island in the background.


Enggagement ceremony of our own Rudy (Men in Black)

Track Day on Hayabusa

It was planned almost right after the April trackday. Everyone has his score to settle this time, as the last one was awesome for everybody. This is clear from the daily emails and weekend ride chatters. Everyone badly wants to improve their cornering. Here is everyone. Busa riders dreaded the premature throttle release and braking at the straight line, blaming them entirely on the wooden feel of the Hayabusa brakes, never on the lack of...courage.

There's one more addition to our group this time. A spanking brand new grey Hayabusa, just clocked about 1000 miles under 3 weeks old (photo below, see arrow). We actually convinced Razman to pick up skill and confidence by doing a track stint with us. Perhaps, we think we can coach him along the way like big brothers do.
Departing aboout 8am at the local Shell
Big brother Hj K. and us at the R&R just before one of our bikes needed an engine oil top up. Perhaps it's his way to give us blessings before the mayhem.
Dinner with good friends from the Wlong Wlum gang who travelled with us to Krabi. Dinner venue (NZ cafe) has great view of the glittering KL twin tower.



At the track, as the usual sequence went, tire pressure set to 31psi front & 30psi rear, gas fill up to at leats 3/4 full or more, stick the admission tix ring on to the bikes, tapeout the number plates....and for the first time, stick the helmet cam to the helmet, yes...it should have worked well except for the alignment was off and got all wasted.
1st lap is for sighting and tire warming up while reacquainting with the ol' familiar layout again. We got hooked up riding back to back just like any other Sunday ride to Grik :-).
Turn 9.

As things got warmed up, the lean angle becomes smaller..at least it should, but somehow it didnt go as I wished. Instead of the turning in smoothly, it buckled in coupled with a slippery feeling. I left the track and found that the tire pressure has increased by 1.5psi, will this make it lose traction? A friend later said that the corner speed was too slow causing rolling sensation. I made a quick check and found that the body position was not spot on like in April. This came much later, a couple of laps before the mock race started....too late to have fun I might say.

Turn 1 - while feeling very slippery

Mat Jep pushing himself

Desperately in need for more entry speed, more butt shift and more knee out ... more track days :-)

Turn 2, much later in session.

Right after the tire pressure adjustment - 1st pit.

Another turn2 photo - getting in the rythm, but too little time left

Always feel like a million dollars everytime at the grid

After the mayhem with the Wlong Wlum clan

The tremendous fun was marred with 3 red lights and a crash by one of our Busas. Fortunately no one was injured. We rode back short of 1 rider and dead tired 400km down the road. It was worth the while but I just wished I had smaller breakfast, arrived 20 mins.earlier and a better sleep the night before.

Pre Sepang trackday ride - tire warming

"Wadie - awat nampak lurah tu!"

"Depan masjid kat Barcelona ada tarikan tersendiri...Abg Haji kena bukak spectacles, tak mahu tengok". Kami semua ternganga dengag cerita kedai kopi sebegini.

Antara Busa riders yang tegar (or ketegar?&*). Razman (center) , maiden ride to Grik - macam dah naik selalu...daaa. Tak payah nak tunggu, kena tailgate lagi!!

Mat Jep (left) - suit liner sama kaler dgn leather seam. Matching tuuu. Semakin laju harini.

Genap 10 bikes yang merempit pagi Ahad ni. 5 of them are Hayabusas!!

Newly discovered Blue Hayabusa

Mat Jep with his new bling bling full suit on its maiden ride. Chest emblem should be replaced by a fusion power cell then we both can be Iron Man.

If someone ask u, if they come in Pink. The answer is - Hell, no! :-)

Klu gambar ni elok, aku nak frame kat atas moto, let them know I am the proud owner!

Razman (right - on his maiden trip to Grik) and Jep went up the hill......they are too concerned about breaking their neck so they're armored to their teeth.